ACT Mission Statement

ACT's mission is to involve and support individuals of varied backgrounds and interests in service opportunities which meet real community needs, while creating mutual awareness and respect between volunteers and the community. Through co-curricular service opportunities and civic engagement, ACT seeks to foster sustained and thoughtful action toward social change.

History of ACT

Acting in the Community Together (ACT) was founded in 1985 by Julia O'Grady '85 who took a handful of service organizations and created the umbrella organization of ACT. Read more here.

ACT Center-Staff

Program Directors (PDs) - Each on-going program within ACT has at least one student director who is responsible for recruiting, orienting, and assisting volunteers, while also serving as a liaison between their community partner and the ACT Center. PDs play a vital leadership role in promoting community service to their peers.

Student Coordinators (SCs) - The Student Coordinator role was created in 1993 to support the growing ACT program. This year, twelve students are employed by the ACT Center as SCs in roles such as ACT programs Issue Area Coordinator, Publicity Coordinator, Outreach and Communications Coordinator, and Tutoring Coordinator. All of them are available as resources for Program Directors and volunteers, so please feel free to contact them with questions or suggestions. Stop by the ACT Center (Sayles-Hill 150) or call (507) 222-7020.

ACT Director - Laura Riehle-Merrill oversees the daily operations of community service at Carleton College. Her responsibilities include developing student leadership, promoting civic engagement, and maintaining community relations with local non-profit agencies.

Assistant Director - Kelly Scheuerman provides training and support to student coordinators and program directors, evaluates programming, meets with community partners, and develops new initiatives.  Kelly can be reached at x7019 or in the ACT Center (Sayles-Hill 150).

Community Based Work Study Coordinator - Julie Bubser runs two programs, Northfield Reads and Counts and Community Work Study. These programs utilize state or federal work study to place eligible students in Northfield schools and local non-profits. Julie's position is shared between Carleton and St. Olaf Colleges.